Even the "single" sized serving of this Japanese joint's katsu curry ($7.50) provided a sliced-up slab of panko-crusted pork cutlet atop a nearly equal expanse of white rice. Both found comfort in a pool of heavy, black-peppery sauce that made the merest nod toward sweetness. White shreds of cabbage offered crunchy contrast; so did a bright red heap of fukujinzuke ($1), a traditional accompaniment of soy-sauce-pickled radish.

This sign, no longer completely readable from street level, probably pointed hungry New Yorkers to the automat at 1557 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets. The city's first Horn & Hardart, it opened in 1912 and survived longer than most, giving way to a Burger King in the mid-1970s.